George E. Mow, age 93 passed away peacefully in his sleep at home in Culver Oregon on the morning of May 27th and has gone to see his Lord and Savior.  He is survived by his loving wife of 68 years Joyce, his sons Bruce (Karen) of Tulsa OK, Paul (Doris) of Chesapeake VA, daughter Karen Childs (Jim Cyr) of Culver OR, four grandchildren and seven great grandchildren all of whom he loved very much. Bel-Air Colonial Funeral Home in Madras OR. is handling arrangements.

George was born on a farm/ranch, April 15 1931 in Opheim MT. to George W. and Lena B Mow.  His father passed away in a logging accident when he was 14 and the family had to relocate to Kalispell MT. where he finished high school.  George served 4 years in the Air Force during which he spent some time in Texas, Alabama, Korea and Idaho and learned the plumbing trade.  After his time in the Air Force he returned to Kalispell and began working for a local plumbing shop.  He was working on a job in Glacier National Park when he met his future wife Joyce, while she was working a summer job from college at the Many Glacier Lodge.

George and Joyce were married December 26th 1955 in Joyce’s home town of Torrington CT.  They returned to Kalispell where they began a family. Both boys were born in Kalispell before the couple moved to Spokane Washington for better work opportunities. While living there they had a daughter and George began working for Johnson Controls.  Working for Johnson involved a transition from the plumbing trade to be an instrument fitter working with pneumatic controls on heating and cooling systems. Work presented an opportunity for growth and the family relocated again in 1962 to Moscow Idaho where George lived as a resident mechanic serving the University of Idaho, Washington State University and many other projects around the area.  After many years with Johnson Control and his family grown, George took a job with WSU for the remainder of his working career.  George retired from WSU around 1993 and shortly after He and Joyce moved from the Pacific Northwest to Tulsa Ok.  There they thrived and enjoyed the retired life over the next 27 years before returning to the Pacific Northwest.  They settled in Culver Or. in the fall of 2020 where they are currently residing.

While George was born on a farm surrounded by horses, parents that loved horses and horse drawn farming equipment, his heart took a different direction.  He loved internal combustion engines and anything that was powered by them.  He was very mechanically inclined and wanted to know how things worked.  He loved tractors, automobiles, boats airplanes and took every opportunity throughout his life to be involved with them.  For a while in Tulsa he had a Cushman scooter that had been restored and rode with a “Cushman Club” that would organize rides for its members.  He eventually upgraded his Cushman for a more modern scooter with a bit more power to ride the countryside and terrorize the population with the rest of his “scooter-gang”.  He always yearned to fly and at one time took a few flying lessons but sacrificed that because it was taking up resources that could be better used for his family.  After retirement when he got a computer he had a flight simulator and would spend hours “flying” to different locations.  He loved tractors of all kinds, but especially old antique tractors.  He asked for a tractor calendar every year for Christmas so he could look at the different ones throughout the year.  While in Tulsa, he enjoyed going out to some of the local farms when they would have truck/tractor pulls just so he could be around them.

While living in Moscow the family had property and a cabin on the Spokane River and spent endless hours during the spring and summer cleaning up, upgrading, fixing, boating, swimming and skiing there.  It was a gathering place for family and many friends over the years that were invited to share in the fun. Many people remember the time and patience that George had in circling the boat repeatedly as beginners were taught to ski. Over the years he owned many boats, and up to the very end would never turn down an opportunity to go for a boat ride.

George was generous with his time and talents and volunteered both throughout his life.  He worked a lot on the heating/cooling system at his church from the installation of the original system to routine maintenance activities over the years.  He volunteered and took on many maintenance tasks at Glory House (woman’s shelter) in Tulsa as well as volunteering time and talents at Camp Victory. (Church summer camp)  George volunteered time and energy to helping drive tractors, combines and trucks for local harvests.  (Yes, he was driving tractors and other equipment so it was maybe in his interest also!)  He always took on projects when he visited his children as they struck out on their own, whether it was adding receptacles, pouring concrete, framing in porches raking leaves or misc. plumbing projects, he was always busy.

No job or project was too large or too small.  In his first home, he dug a basement by hand that he started out digging while laying on his belly.  He added a sink to his daughter’s bedroom when she got contact lenses and needed facilities to clean and prepare them for wearing. When he owned a trailer park, he put in a septic lagoon system and physically relocate a barn to make room for it. The cabin that was built on the Spokane River was prefabricated in Moscow. The wall sections were loaded on a truck and driven up to the river, put in the water and floated down to the property. There the sections were hauled out of the water, up to the cabin site and reassembled.  It was quite an undertaking.  He did improvements and additions to every home he ever owned and probably added 50 or more lights to different properties in his lifetime. (He liked well-lit areas so if Heaven is not bright enough for him he may be adding lights there too!)

George was a man that had very high standards and expectations from himself and those around him.  He had an incredible work ethic and demanded the same from others.  There were many Saturday afternoons growing up that his kids would remind him it was almost time for Wide World of Sports in the hopes that he would pack it up and stop working for the day.  Sometimes it even worked! While he could be a very “Hard Man”, he was dedicated to his family and would do whatever he could to provide for them and protect them. He was a loving man and a God Fearing man that we can all look forward to spending time with again in the afterlife.

God Bless You George, Husband, Father, Grand and Great Grandfather, co-worker and friend. We all miss you very much!